The story of the new Shox shoe, to be launched in November, began in the early 1980s, when Nike engineers - inspired by Harvard's new sprung- surface running track - wondered how that kind of bounceback could be built into a sneaker. Steel springs in the midsole, a multilayered leaf-spring heel, a hinged carbon-fiber shell: Nike's Sports Research Lab created prototype after prototype, but none really got off the ground. Then came Air, the lightweight line that dominated the company's efforts during the '80s. By the time two Nike designers stumbled across one of the old spring-loaded models in 1997, technology had caught up with the idea. The "shocks" in the Shox are made of a high-density polyurethane foam that's used in the engine mounts of Formula One cars. Sandwiched between thermoplastic plates, these foam columns create a trampoline effect that the shoe engineers describe as a suspension system. With 16 years of R&D and 27 patents to their name, a pair of Shox will sell for a hefty $150. Then again, this is the sole of a new machine.
ELECTRIC WORD
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